First Essay Rough Draft: It Rains In My City

Samuel Jimenez

Professor Monique Williams

English 1A

February 28^th, 2014

It Rains In My City

A dark cloud covers a city filled with drugs, violence and a failing school district. Despite the efforts of gentrification, the misery produced by the dark cloud is still evident, especially in the schools. But less than one mile and an overpass away, the sun shines brightly on one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the nation. A neighborhood filled with wealth, where students thrive and one of the nations great academic institutions calls home. The grass is greener on the “west side” and all you have to do to see the difference between East Palo Alto and Palo Alto is cross over that overpass.

Ask yourself, who creates these imaginary boundaries in our society? How could it be that all that separates one of the wealthiest zip codes in the nation from a neighborhood with two of the lowest performing schools in California is just an overpass? Is it the failing neighborhood that produces the failing school?

My research of the topic, aided by the reading of Jonathan Kozol’s “Savage Inequalities”, part of Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, Erich Fromm’s “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” along with watching Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for ‘Superman’” documentary about the American public education system, led me to the belief that instead of failing neighborhoods producing failing schools, in fact, failing neighborhoods, like East Palo Alto, were produced by failing schools. In a society that’s growing rapidly, I believe that it is all of our obligations, as a society, to help reform the system that leads these failing schools.

Within these failing schools are children who, despite their, at times, troubled upbringing and familiarity with negative influences from their primary socialization, show promise and enthusiasm during their early years in education. Young children, because of their innocence, have yet to realize the inequalities in our education system at this point in their lives. Although the problems of our education system exist in these early years, it isn’t until later that the effects of these issues are immediately noticeable through the child’s grades. In Guggenheim’s documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman’”, educator Geoffrey Canada says “Betweem the 5^th and 7^th grade, you see a huge number of minority students go from being ‘B’ students to ‘D’ students.” Kozol’s book “Savage Inequalities” backs up this though by saying, “By fifth or sixth grade, many children demonstrate their loss of faith by staying out of school.” These children didn’t just all of a sudden become stupid, they became conscious. They became conscious of the inequality that the face in our system. German sociologist Erik Erikson illustrates this sudden consciousness in his epigenic principle. The epigenic principle is a formulation, which states that humans develop through eight different stages. Through their age, most 5^th through 7^th graders fall into the epigenic principle stages of competence and fidelity. They begin to ask themselves if they are competent and also begin to question who they are and what surrounds them.

In those stages, children become increasingly aware of what they lack and in the case of a city like East Palo Alto, in comparison to Palo Alto, or as illustrated in Savage Inequalities, a town like East St. Louis in comparison to the near-by Fairview Heights, they also become aware of what others have. The difference in environment can take a toll on these children as they begin to establish their own identity. Los Angeles-based rapper, Nipsey Hussle, speaks on this in his song “Crenshaw and Slauson” as he raps, “The demonstrations speak loud, so I ain’t sayin’ much. Was a charismatic nigga, now I don’t play as much, because life is real when you live it in a place like us. School pictures crackin’ smiles, now my face is stuck, shell-shocked to see how much they really hated us.” The loss of charisma or their own smile is realistic for children from failing schools. What’s left to smile or be charismatic about when you’re going to a school that the system neglects? Why should they continue to be neglected when “the block” can show them love? That’s what comes to mind for these children.

In order to combat the calls of the street life, the child must look differently at the scenario. Instead of feeling like there is no way out of this cycle the system has created, they must begin to find something within the school to cling to. If the system won’t change, we must help change the perception of the scenario for these children. Paulo Freire says in the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, “To do this authentically, they must perceive their state, not as fated and unalterable, but merely as limiting and therefore challenging.” A challenge. We must help them to look at this failing neighborhood and this failing school as a challenge waiting to be overcome. As a society, we must build these children’s identities to be that of challenge seekers and challenge defeaters.

To break through the wall, the challenge, puts in front of us, we should be looking to not only highlight the avenues currently available for our children to succeed, but also create new avenues for them to succeed.

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Just wanted to get this out there right now, I'm still up continuing to put work in on this but before it hits midnight, I felt the need to get what I have up on here.

Waiting for Superman

The deeper we go into the topic of oppression and segregation in our public school system, the more and more it hits close to home for me. I’m sure I’m not alone in our class in feeling that way.

Davis Guggenheim quickly dives into the issue of choosing a school for his own children early in the movie and despite my daughters still being under two years old, it’s an issue that I find myself thinking about often. If I were afforded the option of sending my child to a high achieving private school, would I choose to send them to a struggling public school? Maybe, but it’s not likely.

“You go to college, you don’t get a job, you get a career. There’s a difference.”

I guess it’s what they sell us, but how true is it?

Don’t get me wrong. When you’re stuck in poverty, stuck in the hood, stuck in a shitty situation, you have to cling to that hope for education. If you don’t believe it, then what’s the point of it all? Why are we going to school if we can’t make things better for our loved ones and ourselves?

We have to believe it. It’s just sad that the system isn’t built for that to be the truth.

“I understand that taking tests isn’t fun. Well, too bad!”

Great attitude, President Bush.

Let’s make this process of education as painful as possible for these students.

I guess the toughest part of all of this is the fact that there are people out there who care but are helpless after awhile. Individuals like Geoffrey Canada, Steve Barr and Michelle Rhee. I’m sure there are more who want change, but with the system currently in place, what possibility is there for change?

I guess that’s the point of documentaries. To make you think about these things and question why we’re in the situation we’re in. But I always end up asking myself “What can I do?” “How can I help?” “Is change possible?”

The public school process has been in place for years and as I got older, I knew the problems existed. As you get older, you move one and you forget. Waiting for Superman is a reminder. It’s a heartbreaking reminder.

These are children who are left without choices. They’re left with the luck of the draw and it’s incredibly sad.  You have you’re lottery number and if you don’t have the right lottery number then you become a statistic (number) that they only anticipate becoming another number (inmate number.) Maybe I’m taking it to an extreme, but that’s how it feels. 

Bay Area School Comparison

What’s interested me most so far about “Savage Inequalities” is how East St. Louis and the schools in south side Chicago and New York are within such close proximity with other thriving neighborhoods and schools, yet they are neglected and left to figure out their problems on their own.

It sparked my interest because of my experiences during my own educational journey, as well as my experience in the working world. I’ve often wondered how we allow ourselves to stay between the imaginary boundaries our neighborhoods set for us. 

Looking through the list of Bay Area Tier I schools, I became curious about where exactly all of these schools were located and in relation, where the most affluent neighborhoods in the Bay Area were located.

The first school on the Tier I list: Longwood Elementary.

It hit extremely close to home.

Longwood Elementary: MY elementary school.

Longwood Block: MY block.

Longwood Park and Basketball Court: MY backyard and MY home court.

I didn’t have to do much research to know that Longwood isn’t located in one of Hayward’s nicer neighborhoods. It’s my backyard. Literally. I live close enough to the school that I can still access my home wireless network from the school. But drive 5 minutes away and you’ll hit Castro Valley and one of the 47 most affluent zip codes in California.

Longwood Elementary is located in the 94541 zip code and a North Hayward neighborhood where the highest real estate value stands at 430-thousand dollars. Meanwhile in Castro Valley’s 94552 zip code and surrounding area, houses are going for prices exceeding 5 million dollars.

The Longwood/Castro Valley situation isn’t an abnormal one either.

In my line of work, I’ve become highly familiar with many parts of the Bay Area. Working in every city from Los Gatos up to San Mateo over the last 5 years, I’ve seen the imaginary boundaries between rich and poor.

Also on the Tier I list are Costano Elementary, Edison-Ronald McNair Intermediate School and Stanford New School, which are all within a 10-minute drive of a few of the top 10 most affluent neighborhoods in California. East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park are all within a “stones throw” of the wealthy neighborhoods of Atherton, Downtown Palo Alto and Stanford.

The same problems exist in San Francisco when comparing districts like the Mission and Bayview district to Balboa Terrace and the Marina District. It exists in San Jose where the Eastside isn’t too far from the prominence of the Silver Creek and Almaden areas. It even exists in Concord and Danville.

So, yes, schools in the Bay Area are suffering from an unfair distribution of opportunities just like the schools in our reading and, no, it doesn’t seem like we’ve made any progress.

Poorly Funded Public Schools

sav-age in-e-qual-i-ty

What exactly does “savage inequalities” mean to me?

A literal translation would be something like “social disparity relating to uncivilized human beings”, or the “fierce, ferocious or cruel disparity of distribution or opportunity.”

Uncivilized. Cruel. Disparity of opportunity.

I feel that makes sense.

It has everything to do with us as uncivilized human beings suffering from the cruel disparity of opportunities left to us by a broken system.

A broken system.

The savage inequalities produced from a broken system.

How does a child feel when he/she does not have proper school resources and why?

I believe that feelings of resentment, disgust and anger are produced from the lack of resources for students in poorer schools. Maybe not at first, but as you grow and begin to see the resources that other students have at their disposal, resentment of those students, disgust for the system, and anger for the situation build quickly.

Its human nature to want what you do not, or cannot, have, isn’t it?

The feelings don’t exist simply because of the lack of resources; the feelings exist because the students become aware of the lack of resources.

What affects do bad teachers have on a child?

I believe that a teacher should be an uplifting role model for children. A teacher should challenge, nurture and praise their students. When a teacher goes astray from that and begins to berate their students, or even worse, show no interest in their students, it only leads to negative effects on those students. Within the classroom, the teacher is look upon as the leader. The teacher sets the tone.

When you have a disinterested leader, you become disinterested.

When you have an abusive leader, you become angry and disheartened.

When you have an uplifting leader, you become enthusiastic.

If teachers display negative characteristics, the students will pick up on them and either revolt or surrender their hunger for knowledge.

Who is mostly affected by the practice of protecting the wealthy by providing a lesser education to the poor?

Both sides feel the affect of the poor receiving a lesser form of education than the rich. It’s another form of “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

On one side the grass is dry, yellow and filled with the feces of animals on the loose. The green side of the tracks has seemingly built a wall tall enough to obstruct the sunrays and despite the dark cloud above, the drought seems to be never ending.

How can they obtain proper nourishment without the help of their neighbor?

Without the breaking down of the wall?

Without water to help maintain the grass?

Without proper nourishment for the grass, it’s only a matter of time until the grass is gone.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining where the grass is green and that tall wall that keeps out the sunlight? Well, it also blocks the irrigation system from reaching the “other side”.

The affects are felt on both sides of the issue. It’s a negative affect for those receiving the lesser education but it’s a positive affect for those that are protected.

Two methods to possibly improve our (broken) education system

The problems in today's educational system stem directly from today's societal problems and although we would like to dive in to discussing methods to improve our broken educational system, we first have to address problems in today's society. 

Commonly offered up as a solution to fixing our educational system is an increase in financial support to help pay faculty, upgrade buildings, provide learning tools and keep creative programs open. While I agree with the premise of increased finances, I believe that the problem is prevalent in education only because the same problem exists in our society as a whole. 

The fact is that the problems we face as a part of the Hayward Unified School District may not be the same problems that school districts like San Ramon Valley or Mountain View-Los Altos, to name more affluent neighborhoods in close proximity, face. Until we can figure out a method to fairly distribute wealth in society, the idea of distributing wealth among school districts is unattainable.

One solution that may be more realizable is the elimination of standardized testing.

The use of standardized testing as a measuring stick in education can be looked at as a tool to oppress those who aren't given the proper financial support to succeed. While I believe in individually raising standards for students, holding groups of students from differentiating economical backgrounds to the same standard, only to reward those who perform better, is simply another example of "the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer." 

Holding students from a lower economical background to a higher standard and continuing to raise that standard should be placed on the shoulders of the teachers and principals who are in direct contact with those students and not by a government who does not seek growth for these students. As a child, the bribery of standardized testing wasn't motivating to me, but what was motivating was the individual teachers who made an effort to help me and my classmates grow in knowledge of the subject, knowledge of the world and knowledge of ourselves.

Financially rewarding the school districts, schools, and to some extent, the teachers whose classes perform well in a standardized test, only rewards those whose students actually care to do well. One objective of oppression is to force the subject into a state of carelessness, hopelessness. The issue with standardized testing exists because many of the students who come from oppressive backgrounds have already given up that hope. So how can we expect that these students perform well on these tests when, in many cases, they've already given up hope.

As much as I'd love to see our broken educational system fixed, the reality of our situation is that until serious societal reform begins, any serious changes to our educational system can not be realized. Until then it is up to the individual teachers and students to rebuild our understanding of what education is, what it can be and what we should be using it for.